Ben Leming2015-03-03T16:01:30-05:00Ben Leminghttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/author/index.php?author=ben-lemingCopyright 2008, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc.HuffingtonPost Blogger Feed for Ben LemingGood old fashioned elbow grease.Our Constitution, Undividedtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2010:/theblog//3.6449662010-07-13T16:36:46-04:002011-05-25T17:05:23-04:00Ben Leminghttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/ben-leming/
But even it is preceded in the Bill of Rights by another right our forefather's deemed essential: the free exercise of religion. At a time of war, when men and women sworn to defend our Constitution are risking their lives, we cannot forget that these rights are inseparable. The Constitution is not a piecemeal promise. It, like our union, is indivisible.

This is one reason that I support the right of all people of faith in America to practice their religion, no matter what that religion may be. Unfortunately, some critics of the Islamic Center believe that Muslim-Americans aren't entitled to this Constitutional protection.

One of my opponents in the race for Congress, Lou Ann Zelenik, has declared that local Muslims are "not part of a religious movement" and has claimed that they want "to fracture the moral and political foundation of Middle Tennessee." She has offered no evidence for this claim other than the fact that they are Muslim.

Let there be no mistake: these are words of intolerance. I would be ashamed if my school age sons said them; the Republican Party should be ashamed that they came out of the mouth of their leading candidate in the Sixth District.

Fortunately, religious tolerance is not a partisan issue. Republican primary candidate Jim Tracy sponsored the Religious Freedom Restoration Act in the state Senate last year, a bill his colleague (and fellow candidate) Diane Black also supported. The law, which is now in effect, protects mosques and other religious buildings from undue government interference. These state Senators, like many like-minded leaders in Middle Tennessee, understand that Americans should be free to worship as they please.

The alternative is far worse. As Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptists' Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, has said, "the minute you allow the government to decide which religions are kosher and which are not, you are in big trouble."

The Taliban's reign of terror in Afghanistan provides one extreme example of where this path can lead. In contrast, America stands as a shining counterexample of tolerance and brotherhood.

Consider this: even on the night President Bush addressed Congress in response to the attacks of September 11, attacks perpetrated by a group of Muslim fundamentalists, he made clear that America respects the Islamic faith and that "the enemy of America is not our many Muslim friends" but rather a "radical network of terrorists."

Nearly a decade later, as our armed forces work side-by-side with Muslims to lead Afghanistan and Iraq toward stable democracies that protect religious freedom, we should not ignore the need to do the same here at home.

That's why I ask all those who march against the Islamic Center in Murfreesboro to reconsider their views. Not only is intolerance antithetical to American values, it can actually harm our cause. Our troops' mission in Afghanistan and Iraq is only made more difficult when al-Qaeda and its affiliates can use pictures of a small band of protestors in Murfreesboro to portray the entire country as bigoted. As a veteran of the Iraq war, I know how important it is to our national security that we build bridges to the Muslim community, not burn them.

And, as a veteran who has served with Muslims in the U.S. military, I cannot forget that these brave men and women risk their lives in combat to protect the very people who march on the street to deny their families a place to worship. Sadly, not all of these soldiers made it home. In Arlington National Cemetery, among the headstones engraved with Christian crosses and Stars of David, stand headstones with the crescent and star of the Islamic faith. These symbols, mixed together in rows of white stone, represent a striking memorial to the beauty of the American Republic.

These fallen heroes are one reason why I am always reminded that we must protect the Constitutional freedoms of all Americans, including the right to worship freely. I hope that the demonstrators against this mosque reconsider their views and I pray that we will find a way to move forward together again, free from the politics of fear, toward a more perfect Union.

Ben Leming, a 15-year veteran of the Marine Corps, served in Iraq and throughout the Middle East and is a Murfreesboro, TN native. He is running for the Congress in Tennessee's Sixth District. You can learn more about his campaign at www.benleming.com.]]>Opponents of Mosque Using Fear to Dividetag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2010:/theblog//3.6203782010-06-21T20:48:06-04:002011-05-25T16:50:20-04:00Ben Leminghttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/ben-leming/
As a Marine that has deployed through out the Middle East, I have worked, trained, and broken bread with Muslims. I have known their families and communities. I have fought with them and for them, as I have for this country and my fellow citizens, many of whom are also Muslims. I can't stand by while some people are accused of being guilty by association of one's religion and therefore discriminated against.

This controversy isn't about religion. It's about courage. As a helicopter pilot and intelligence officer, I've studied and fought our enemies. Terrorism is a psychological war based on fear. The counter to it is courage. Our course of action here at home is to abandon the politics of fear and embrace the politics of courage. The people that strongly oppose these places of worship are the same loud, angry, and often frightened voices that we hear too often in our public discourse these days. I ask that they abandon their divisive rhetoric, intolerance, and hate. I ask that they join us by showing Al Qaida that they cannot defeat us.

I say to them, what do we have to be afraid of? Are we not brave, strong, proud Americans? I say, we are, because I have seen it in our countrymen. I have known good friends who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. I have witnessed heroic deeds made by amazing men and women. I know friends who have lost so much during this financial crisis and still have the courage to pick themselves up and start a small business. I have seen the courage of people who give to those less fortunate even when they themselves have heavy burdens to bear.

Instead of acting out of fear, we need to act out of courage. As I taught my Midshipmen at the Naval Academy, "Courage isn't the absence of fear. Courage is acting in spite of our fears to do the right thing even when it is unpopular." We need to stand together with courage to act boldly to put this country on the right path. We need courage to stand up to big businesses when they fail their workers and the taxpayers. Courage to protect our nation from the real enemies: Osama Bin Laden and his band of thugs and criminals. If we act out of fear and abandon our principles, then they have won.

I have known fear my whole life. I was afraid as a kid facing down a pair of school bullies. I was afraid when my parents divorced. I knew fear when I left home at 18 and went to Marine Corps Boot Camp at Parris Island. I was scared when I left behind my pregnant wife and 15-month old son for Iraq, not knowing if I would return home. I was afraid when I took fire flying our wounded and deceased to safety in Iraq. I knew fear when facing the reality of my wife's mortality as she battled breast cancer. And yet, I have always faced my fears. Through courage and will, I have survived each encounter with my integrity, honor, and life intact. I will not let it defeat me. I will not let it defeat us.